Free Motion Quilting, or “FMQ”, is the quilting technique where you disengage the feed dogs of a sewing machine allowing you to take full control of the direction and speed of your quilting.
I’ve been working a lot on getting the hang of this technique recently in my quilts for Quilting Wemple and it has quickly become one of my favorite parts of the quilt process. It’s been a bit of a learning curve though, so today I’m going back to basics and talking about how you can get started, clarify some myths about it, the stages to tackle it in, as well as my best tips and tricks that I wish I had when I got started.
This one’s going to be a long one but if you stick with me, there are some amazing game changing tips in here that will not only give you confidence in your FMQ, but take it to the next level.
The FAQ’s on FMQ
What’s the difference between FMQ and regular quilting?
When you FMQ, you will have to flip a lever on your sewing machine which drops your feed dogs.
Okay, so what are feed dogs?
Feed dogs are the little metal teeth that pop up from the bottom plate of your sewing machine right under your presser foot. The feed dogs exist to feed the fabric into the sewing machine from the one direction, in from the front, feed to the back.
When you drop the feed dogs, you remove the ability for the sewing machine to control the direction of the stitches allowing you to move the quilt in any direction, forward, backward, side to side, diagonally, etc.
Why is FMQ useful?
Quilts are a pain to rotate in a home sewing machine, or really any sewing machine.
By taking control of the direction of the sewing, you can make much more intricate designs, curvy designs, or smaller more geometric designs much easier with significantly less hassle.
“Regular Quilting” in this case refers to quilting that keeps the feed dogs engaged when quilting. Which is often used anytime you quilt long straight lines across your quilt using a walking foot.
Both styles of quilting are equally useful depending on the design you are trying to execute, and the sewing machine is set up the exact same way in both situations.
The only difference is your feed dogs are dropped and you use what’s called a darning foot in free motion quilting versus a walking foot in “Regular Quilting”
Do I need to learn FMQ in order to make a quilt?
Absolutely not! FMQ is not always everyone’s cup of tea, and sometimes you are just making a quilt that calls for some good ol’ straight line quilting.
Or sometimes you just don’t feel like going the extra mile by free motion quilting a quilt that took you an afternoon to piece. FMQ takes more time and effort, some quilts just don’t need it and sometimes you just aren’t in the mood. (Hopefully that’s not just me)
I like to go back and forth with my quilts, on the simpler quilts like this chevron quilt above, I typically default to some form of straight line quilting. This is especially true if I’m in a rush to get the project done for some reason.
You do not NEED FMQ in order to make a quilt, it’s simply a different technique of quilting you can choose to use, or choose not to use based on whatever your current project or preferences call for.
Can I FMQ on my small domestic sewing machine?
Most definitely. For those who might not have heard the term “Domestic machine” it’s just a fancy way to say home sewing machine. You might come across the term “Long Arm Quilting” and see amazing FMQ designs that are made from them, but they are not the ONLY way to achieve this type of custom quilting, and they take just as much practice with FMQ as a domestic machine.
What is a Long Arm Sewing Machine?
Typically with your normal home “domestic” sewing machine, the sewing machine stays still and the quilt moves underneath it. With a long arm, the quilt stays still, and the sewing machine moves over it.
One of the trickiest aspects of FMQ is getting the quilt to move consistently since you are the one moving it. Long arms take that obstacle out of the equation, and while there are certainly still plenty of skills to learn to master a long arm, taking that one issue out goes a long way to flattening the FMQ learning curve. Not to mention they are large and quite expensive for the general quilt hobbiest.
Any design a long arm sewing machine can do, a domestic sewing machine can do, it just takes a bit more forethought and planning to execute since you will have to manage the quilt moving through the machine as well.
With some practice (and my go-to tricks below) you’ll get the hang of it in no time on your domestic machine.
How to Set up Your Machine for FMQ
There are really not that many differences between how your sewing machine is set up during your normal quilt piecing and when you FMQ. All thread pathways and bobbin set ups are identical, these are the only differences you’ll have to adjust:
- Change out your piecing foot to a darning foot
- Drop the feed dogs
Two simple changes. A darning foot is a presser foot, that has a small ring around the bottom where the needle sits that minimizes restriction on the quilt. This helps move it through the machine a bit easier.
And to drop your feed dogs, there is usually a switch or lever on the back of the machine that you’ll flip to disengage. On my singer sewing machine, the switch is hidden underneath the removable deck of the sewing machine on the backside.
If you hunt around the backside of the machine you’ll probably see a little picture of the feed dog teeth next to it.
Helpful Notions That Will Make It Easier
I only really have one notion that will help you get cleaner, more professional looking, free motion quilting designs, and its quickly become my favorite quilting investment under $10 yet.
A hera marker is a piece of resin with a rounded edge to it. When you make a mark in the basted quilt with it, it creates a temporary crease in it that you can then follow with your machine.
When I first started free motion quilting I often found that my lines were incredibly wavy and they always seemed to veer off from where I intended them to go causing me to have to curve the last couple inches to get it to the intended end point.
Squares weren’t square and lines weren’t straight, and I wasn’t happy with how sloppy it was always turning out.
Then I watched some videos trying to learn more from professional quilters and every single one of them used some sort of marker or ruler to follow and keep their lines straight and going in the correct direction.
I always thought the professionals were just THAT good, that marking tools were an unnecessary waste of time, and that I was cheating the whole “free motion” thing by using one. The first time I tried it out I realized how big of a difference it made in how clean the end result was.
It was hard enough to learn how to move the quilt through the machine on my own let alone make a straight line at the same time. Marking a line out using a Hera Marker prior to sewing it, allows you to take “make a straight line” off the to do list, and just focus on consistency while following a line. Multitasking is hard enough.
If using a tool is the difference between being proud enough to post pictures on social media and locking the quilt away in the back of a linen closet never to be seen again, I’d say it’s definitely worth it the effort.
And totally not cheating like I originally thought.
This is the Hera Marker I use from Amazon.
The 4 Stages to Learning and Mastering FMQ
Free motion quilting, like any other skill in life, is not an overnight thing. It definitely takes some practice to get the hang of, and knowing what’s actually tripping you up is half the battle. There are a few ways to get started free motion quilting, usually there are about 4 stages to work through:
Stage 1: Practicing consistent stitches and curves
Start with a quilt sandwich swatch. This is two relatively small pieces of fabric, maybe 10” x 10” or so, basted with some quilt batting to give you the feeling of a quilt without actually using a real quilt.
Curves are actually some of the easiest things to start with believe it or not because its very easy to tell if a straight line isn’t straight. If a curvy line isn’t exactly as curvy as you wanted it, no one will ever know.
Get used to moving the swatch around, try a stipple or a swirl pattern to get the hang of FMQ curves.
For some easy designs to start with, be sure to check out my post on the 10 easiest quilting designs for beginners.
Swatch not moving when you hit the pedal? Don’t forget that you are in charge now, not the sewing machine. Use both hands flat on either side of the needle/presser foot and gently move the fabric around under the needle.
The faster you run the needle, the faster you have to navigate the fabric, otherwise your stitches will be teeny tiny. Too slow with the pedal and moving the fabric too quick and you’ll end up with ginormous stitches.
Depending on where you are moving, and what you are trying to do, you’ll likely get a combination of places that have too big of stitches and too small of stitches in the same swatch when you first start you.
Get a feel for how fast your hands and your needle each need to go to get nice even stitches, and when your hands stop moving, make sure your needle stops too.
Congrats! You’re officially free motion quilting!
Stage 2: Practicing straight lines
Straight lines are the next task when it comes to leveling up your skills. Straight can be hard when you have full control, and faster is not necessarily better, consistency is.
Start with a new swatch, start somewhere near the top of the swatch, and, using the same pace you used between your hands and needle earlier, feed your fabric through. But when you do, push forward in a smooth controlled speed with both palms flat on either side of the presser foot.
Pushing through evenly with both hands will help keep your line straight. If you are just pushing with one hand or only holding the fabric from the bottom edge of the swatch, you are likely to get a bit wavy. I also find a deep breath out through the full motion pushing forward also helps me keep consistent with the pressure I apply.
Keep in mine, the more you push down with your hands (as opposed to pushing forward) the harder it will be to physically push. Play around with how much pressure you need to push down on the swatch to keep it controlled but still moving relatively easily.
If your hands or wrists are hurting and strained, you’re probably holding it a bit too hard!
You might be asking, why would I need to FMQ a straight line when I have a walking foot? In some cases, you can definitely get away with using both feet in a quilting design, but depending on complexity and where the straight lines actually are in your motif, it might be more cumbersome to actually stop and switch feet. Especially if your straight line turns into a curvy line, or is short and then turns directions, and you can’t really start or stop anywhere natural to switch feet without cutting the thread.
Learning a straight line with FMQ is definitely useful to take the time to learn although not always 100% necessary.
Stage 3: Use an all over FMQ design on an actual quilt
Once you’ve gotten comfortable with both curves and straight lines, choose an all over option for your first guinea pig quilt.
A great first FMQ design for an actual quilt is a classic stipple and is actually the same design that I used on my first free motion quilting project. There are no straight lines, and all you have to do is keep making squiggles.
There are no defined shapes, lines, or directions. If you mess up, no one will know.
Stage three is where you will start to learn how to work with the bulk of a quilt, which is really (in my opinion) the trickiest part to free motion quilting.
Typically, when people say they are bad at free motion quilting, they aren’t necessarily bad at FMQ, they just don’t know how to handle all of the quilt bulk and make those consistent designs at the same time.
Realizing the problem is half the battle though, so now that you know this is the trickiest part, you’ll be able to handle it like a pro.
There are SO many ways to learning how to handle the bulk of a quilt when free motion quilting that I ended up writing it’s own article for it! Be sure to check out my article on all my best tips for handling a full quilt when FMQ on a home sewing machine.
Stage 4: Designing your own custom FMQ design
Stage 4 is the last stage, and it’s a simple one! Get creative! Make a quilt, plan out a FMQ design you want to tackle now that you have some basic ideas, and give it a try!
Try to mix and match different designs to make your own custom quilting design for your next quilt.
My favorite way to do this is use a print out, or drawn picture, of the final quilt top, and just doodle quilting motifs over it. Try out a few different drawn out designs in different sections of the paper version of the quilt and decide which ones you like before committing on the real thing.
How to Learn FMQ Fast
1. Take an online class to learn different FMQ techniques
Seeing and watching someone explain what they are doing while free motion quilting is hands down the best way to learn how to FMQ quickly and successfully.
The less trial and error you have to do to figure it out and the more techniques you learn correctly the first time, the more time you have to practice and get better, instead of finding 1200 different ways not to make a certain basic shape.
One of my favorite classes that I used when I was learning basic FMQ was Angela Walters’ Background and Borders class from Craftsy.
It gives awesome versatile ideas for backgrounds and borders that are ideal for beginners as well as ambitious beginners and shows you how to apply them in different ways, explaining everything about how to accomplish the design along the way.
If you are ready to get started FMQ and want a great beginner lesson that will get you through endless quilts in one go, this is the one. Check out Background and Borders on Craftsy here.
2. Don’t give up because one line or section didn’t come out as planned
In the grand scheme of a quilt, that one section that’s killing your perfectionism is likely never going to be noticed by anyone else who sees it.
What can be sewn in 5 minutes, will take 5 hours to rip out. It’s just not worth it.
With 5 hours of ripping you’ll be so frustrated with the quilt that it might never actually get completed.
Finished is better than perfect.
Instead, take it as a learning opportunity, change up what you are doing for the next section, and keep repeating the process that until you find the perfect way to accomplish that design.
And then just bring that lesson on to the next block and ultimately the next quilt, or next hundred quilts!
3. If it seems difficult to do, or hurts your hands, something’s not quite right
A common thing beginners find is that after a while, their hands start to hurt from holding and navigating the quilt through the machine.
If you find this is happening to you, you might need to change something. Here’s a few things to look for that might be the cause:
- You are holding the quilt like a steering wheel and are forcing it back and forth through the machine causing strain in your fingers. Try to remember to keep your hands flat on the deck of the sewing machine, not gripping any part of the quilt itself, this will help prevent strain through your hands.
- Your hands are flat but it’s still difficult to navigate through the machine. Try checking to make sure your feed dogs are actually down. If they are, double check to see if your quilt is getting caught around your sewing machine corners causing resistance to your movements back and forth. If you’re trying to pull the quilt around a corner and push it through the machine at the same time, your hands will likely hurt after a while. Gravity is your worst enemy when free motion quilting. Those pictures on the internet with a quilt beautifully laid out flat on the table under the needle while quilting? They are fake. It makes a pretty picture, don’t get me wrong, but no one actually quilts like that. Pull the quilt up into a messy ball around your sewing machine while you sew, the more slack you have to work with, the easier it’ll be and less strain you’ll feel.
4. Be ambitious
Refining and mastering FMQ happens when you push yourself to try new designs. It gets even better when even on your ninth attempt at a specific design isn’t perfect, you still attempt number 10.
Being ambitious and trying lots of different ways to FMQ is the way you will perfect the skills. If you give up, you’ll never know what you were doing wrong in the first place.
That’s not to say you can’t have favorite designs, or decide that certain quilts aren’t worth the effort of FMQ, because that’s totally a thing. For a last minute quilt, or just an easy quilt that you are doing for fun, it might not be worth the time and effort and that’s okay.
But when you decide a quilt is worth the effort of free motion quilting, being ambitious is all about not shying away from a design that you think would look great just because you’ve never done it before. If you want a feather in the border, do it! Who cares if you’ve never done one before? Everyone has a first attempt somewhere, and you can’t figure out your favorite way to do them without ever trying them.
5. Practice on real quilts
This is my favorite one. Always practice on actual quilts, don’t just only practice on swatches.
If you aren’t using a real quilt, you’ll never understand how to work with the bulk of a quilt. If you are only practicing on swatches, you’ll master FMQ in no time… but only on a swatch. Then you’ll try to FMQ a quilt and not understand why you can do it perfectly on a swatch but struggle to do it on a quilt. Learning how to handle the bulk will be that difference.
By using real quilts you’ll also be significantly more motivated to improve your techniques. If you’ve completed one block of a quilt and really don’t like how it came out, but you love the quilt top, you are way more motivated to find a better way to FMQ that design on the next block of that quilt. If you love a quilt, you won’t want to settle with less then ideal quilting when it’s easy enough to make a small change to improve what you don’t like.
Practicing isn’t necessarily just about going through the motions of pushing the quilt through the machine, it’s also about analyzing what you’ve done, and determining if you are happy with it or if you should find a different way. That’s how you’ll end up with FMQ skills that everyone else will be jealous of.
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